Jeffrey Dahmer's psychological profile and cycle of violence

Jeffrey Dahmer Psychology

American sex offender and serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, was born in the year 1960. From 1978 to 1991, he committed a total of 17 gruesome murders involving dismemberment, rape, cannibalism and necrophilia; his victims were all males. On 28th November, 1994, a fellow Columbia Correctional Institution prisoner beat him to death.

According to the Alabama Coalition against Domestic Violence (2010), abuse assumes several forms and shapes and impacts people from every age-group, social class, racial/ethnic group, sexual orientation and religion. Abused kids normally suffer abuse at the hands of family members, close relatives or family friends. Such abuse may broadly be described as any terrorization, attack, battery, criminal offense or sexual exploitation or assault perpetrated by an individual (relative or non-relative) residing under the same roof as the abused victim (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). Normally, abuse manifests itself in serial killers\' teen years, and similar to other abuse victims, they tend to keep up the cycle of abuse/violence. A Canadian Justice Department-sponsored Victims of Violence study performed in 2011 revealed that female victims often internalized, developed psychological and eating disorders, suicidal tendencies, and poor self-esteem, while male victims of abuse normally externalized abuse by growing more violent and aggressive toward other people (Victims of Violence, 2011, p. 1). The study\'s findings have been corroborated by Baldry (2003), Finkelhor and coworkers (2009) and the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2008).

With regard to abuse, the word \"cycle of violence\" has been utilized to describe the ongoing cycle of aggression typically witnessed in the perpetrator\'s and the victim\'s family history (Finkelhor, Turner, Onnrod, Hamby, & Kracke, 2009). While serial killing and abuse are not the same, researchers have found that a serial murderer normally seeks particular characteristics like gender, race, sexual orientation, hair length and color, job occupation, weight, and height in their intended victims (National Museum of Crime and Punislmlent, 2008).

A few statistical tendencies are inherent in the sociological, psychological, economic, and political motives for crime; however, these are very closely interlinked and one is not able to explicitly define individual factors\' contributions. For instance, the rough living conditions in the minority ghettoes of the U.S. account for the fact that about 33% of the African-American community\'s members may be anticipated to face federal or state level incarceration sometime in life (Crime Museum, 2015).

Dahmer apparently had emotionally unstable personality disorder, a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by a persistent affective instability pattern, serious hardships when it comes to forging and maintaining interpersonal relationships, disrupted cognition, and issues with impulse or behavioral control (e.g. suicidal tendencies) (Suberize, 2011). Throughout his childhood, Dahmer experienced poor self-esteem, and could not properly socialize with his peers at school; this may relate to the identity disturbance aspect of emotionally unstable personality disorder. This is characterized by an unsound self-image. Hence, Dahmer seemed to prefer being surrounded by the people he was going to murder, or the ones he already had. Furthermore, Dahmer experienced chronic desolation following his double hernia surgery. This empty feeling was apparently never dispelled. Additionally, other traits linked to emotionally unstable personality disorder, which were exhibited by Dahmer, were a feeling of emptiness, boredom, and no sense of personal identity (About Border Personality Disorder, n.d.). This could possibly account for why he surrounded himself with corpses. Dahmer\'s fear of abandonment or loneliness was made up for by corpses who couldn\'t reject or leave him.

Dahmer also apparently struggled with Asperger\'s Disorder, better known in America as \'Pervasive Developmental Disorder\', a condition marked by eccentric childhood actions and social isolation (Aspergers, 2010). When Dahmer saw his father clearing out a small rodents\' home, he seemed to become fascinated with dead creatures. A few years later, he began riding about his locality gathering road kill. Another impact of Asperger\'s is socialization and communication delays: Dahmer showed no facial responses and did not make eye contact with people (Suberize, 2011).

Behavior that is purposely inflicted upon a conscious and living victim to achieve sexual gratification is labeled as sadism (Turvey, 2010, p. 596). While Dahmer reportedly engaged in constant necrophilia after he intoxicated and strangled his victims, he is believed to have performed sexual intercourse on corpses when they were yet partially alive. Some examiners consider this act alone as sadism because of the pain it causes victims (Turvey, 2010). Individuals engaging in antisocial activities ignore and deliberately violate others\' rights. Such behavior often starts during childhood or teenage and continues into the person\'s adult life (p. 172). J Dahmer would inflict violence and forced sex upon his chosen victim with utter disregard for the person\'s rights. He took pleasure in the control and power he experienced, and consumed parts in order to maintain their presence. Dahmer was not interested in thinking about the effects of his actions on others, especially his victims. All he was interested in was satisfying his personal selfish need for gratification (Jamet, 2012).

WEEK 2 DISCUSSION 1

Violence socialization begins at home. Research into violent criminals reveals they typically experienced poor supervision, neglect, separation from parents, physical abuse, and poor parenting. Domestic violence was linked to childhood exposure to violence by and on a parent; around 33% of such kids grow into violent adults and tend to abuse their spouses/partners. Domestic sexual abuse experiences result in incorrect ideas of healthy sexuality, non-development of personal boundaries, denial, avoidance, experience reinterpretation, and wrong justifications for violence (National Research Council, 1996). No-smoking, stop-domestic-violence, and no-drunk-driving themed public educational campaigns have been proven as successful preventive interventions (Institute of Medicine, 1994). The June 1994 Family Violence Prevention Fund and Advertising Council drive against spousal/partner violence used TV, print media, and radio for creating public awareness and motivating people to act towards preventing and reducing abuse (Family Violence Prevention Fund, 1995). Focus should be on factors linked to initial aggression development, its continuance, dwindling or escalation, and the ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors (National Research Council, 1996).

WEEK 2 DISCUSSION 2

Dworkin (1991), Brownmiller (1975) and other feminist writers believe pornography encourages female objectification, and tolerates sexual violence. Additionally, movies and the TV often show females being bullied, battered, raped, beaten, killed and tortured. Huston and coworkers (1992) and Eron (1982), among others, reflect the harmful impacts of media depictions of aggression on elementary-school kids; such kids typically exhibited more aggression in teenage and faced more arrests for crime in adulthood. One research meta-analysis discovered a close positive link between TV violence exposure and aggression/antisocial behavior. Violence exposure makes people desensitized to actual violence, suffering and pain. Kids mustn\'t be permitted to watch sexual or violent content. Proper parental supervision and implementation of current governmental policy in this regard is necessary.